Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Since it is Janet's birthday today, I did my usual last minute shopping and event planning. I can't say that either of us looks forward to birthdays anymore. We're old enough already. Birthdays are still special though. Each year is another milestone in a long and complicated journey. It's hard to buy gifts for each other anymore. We both have everything we need. Long ago we stopped having birthday cakes. A cake was too big and most of it ended up growing stale in the refrigerator. Now, we each just have a cupcake. Tonight we had a little champagne with our cupcake. I don't drink anymore, but I'm not completely rigid about it. Having a drink on birthdays and holidays is just fine.

It actually did rain today. It rained just enough to get the car dirty when I was out birthday shopping, but not enough to do the yard any good. The rain only lasted about fifteen minutes and by mid-afternoon the ground was bone dry again. There's a chance that we'll get a little more rain early tomorrow morning. That would be nice. A little rain before our morning walk might help cool things down a bit.

Dot seemed to have a burst of energy today. She seemed strong and confident on her morning walk and walked around the house unassisted much more than I expected. Her left rear leg is still extremely weak, but she seems to be learning to distribute her weight and balance herself better. I'm always happy when Dot has a good day, but have learned not to become overconfident. Tomorrow Dot could be stumbling around like a drunken sailor again. There is no real consistency in Dot's condition. She has good days and bad days. I'm just happy when she has a good day.

I got quite a bit done today. In addition to birthday shopping, I did some writing and website work. Of course I washed the car again as soon as the rain stopped. I can't stand a dirty car. I didn't even bother to go up on the roof after today's rain. It has been so hot lately that I'm sure the water has already evaporated anyway. Today was nice. We had a nice birthday celebration after dinner. I was busy all day, but not rushed. That's the way it should be. Dot had a good day too. We should do this more often.

I hope that Dot still feels good tomorrow when we go for our physical therapy session. I'm proud of Dot's amazing tenacity and like to brag about how well she's doing. It's always disappointing when she takes a turn for the worse. We have to temper the good with the bad unfortunately. That's what life is all about. Sometimes I think Dot understands this basic truth far better than I do.

Next week is Dot's birthday. We'll probably celebrate exactly the same way we did today.

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About Me

John Sealander received a Bachelor of Architecture and a BA in Art from
The University of Arkansas. His rich and diverse experience includes
working as an architectural designer for Fred Bassetti in Seattle,
producing documentary films for PBS, shooting commercial photography
for True Redd’s “Great Shooting Gallery” in Dallas and teaching writing
courses at SMU’s Academy of Visual Communication. For over 35 years,
John has developed memorable and award winning ads and images for some
of the world’s leading ad agencies and most popular brands. In 1990 he
started Sealander & Company, the Dallas, Texas based production
company and multi-media agency where he continues to develop his ideas
today.